Sockers close season tonight against Laredo

Len Hayward

Published 4:30 pm, Wednesday, July 11, 2012

In the span of five days, the West Texas Sockers went from having an outside shot at the postseason to suffering a three-game losing streak and giving up more goals in three games than they had all year.

The Sockers will conclude their season with a pair of home games today against Laredo and Saturday against the Texas Dutch Lions but are still trying to figure out how their season went awry.

"How can I say it ... no excuses," said forward Joe Munoz. "We should've gone out there and played. We tried our best, but we just got outplayed."

The Sockers (2-6-6, 12 points) had a grueling three-game stretch in five days last week that had them playing in Midland last Wednesday and then playing back-to-back games in Austin and The Woodlands on Friday and Saturday.

In those three games, the Sockers were outscored 16-4, which included a 4-1 loss to El Paso at home on July 4, a 7-0 loss to division-leading Austin on Friday and a 5-3 setback to the Texas Dutch Lions on Saturday. Before those three games, the Sockers played a pair of games on June 28 and June 30. Add those up, and they played five games in eight days.

The Sockers have not scored a point in the standings in more than two weeks, but coach Warren Cottle still found positives for his team as they enter this final stretch of games.

"I think five games in eight days took its toll," Cottle said. "We've been playing hard and been fighting hard, but we haven't been able to find the back of the net. We are outshooting people but not scoring. But I still think they will keep fighting."

Munoz said the number of games and the travel did have some effect on the players, but he said the team also has struggled to put teams away after scoring on them first. Against El Paso last week, the Sockers scored game's first goal and then gave up four unanswered in the loss.

"Whenever we get one or two goals on us and we are winning and they tie us, our minds go down," Munoz said. "We get mellow. I think that's what we need work on, but it's probably too late now. But that's the struggle we've had all season. We had the game and they tied us and we would shut down. I think we need to work on that for next year."

SOCKERS NOTE: Cottle said that goalie Alonso Jimenez is still battling a knee injury and has been hit or miss on playing the last few games. He is likely to play this week, but Cottle said he wasn't sure on Monday.